Security News > 2023 > February > Emergency VMware ESXi update fixes Windows Server 2022 VM boot issues

VMware has released a vSphere ESXi update that addresses a known issue causing some Windows Server 2022 virtual machines to no longer boot after installing this month's KB5022842 update.

Microsoft first acknowledged the issue on Thursday when the company said it only impacts VMs with Secure Boot enabled and running on vSphere ESXi 6.7 U2/U3 or vSphere ESXi 7.0.x. Although Redmond says that only VMware ESXi VMs are affected, some Windows admin reports hint at other hypervisor platforms being impacted by similar boot problems after deploying this month's updates.

"The Windows update package delivers a new form of digital signature on the EFI bootloader, which UEFI Secure Boot incorrectly rejects. As a result, virtual machines might fail to locate a bootable operating system and not boot," VMware explained today.

"If you already face the issue, after patching the host to ESXi 7.0 Update 3k, just power on the affected Windows Server 2022 VMs," VMware says.

"After you patch a host to ESXi 7.0 Update 3k, you can migrate a running Windows Server 2022 VM from a host of version earlier than ESXi 7.0 Update 3k, install KB5022842, and the VM boots properly without any additional steps required."

Microsoft is also working on addressing a known issue causing WSUS servers upgraded to Windows Server 2022 to fail to push February 2022 Windows 11 22H2 updates to clients.

News URL

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/emergency-vmware-esxi-update-fixes-windows-server-2022-vm-boot-issues/